Regulator for hair-springs of clocks or watches.



No. 639,578. Patented Dec. l9, I899. 0. JDHANSON.

REGULATOR FOR HAIR SPRINGS 0F CLOCKS 0R WATCHES.

(Applicntion filed Feb. 20, 1899.)

(No Model.)

"m: Nonms PETERS c0, Pumuuma, WASHINGTON n. c.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

OLOF JOl-IANSON, OF NEW YORK, IT. Y.

REGULATOR FOR HAIR-SPRINGS OF CLOCKS OR WATCHES.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 639,578, dated December 19, 1899.

Application filed February 20, 1899. Serial No. 706,286. (No model.)

To all 1071,0771, it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLOF JOHANSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York, in the borough of Manhattan and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Regulators for the Hair-Springs of Clocks or lVatches, of which the following is a specification.

I allow the hair-spring to extend, as usual, from the hair-spring stud between two pins which are planted in the regulator-arm, so that by shifting the arm, and thereby moving the pins to and from the stud, the free portion, which is the effective part of the spring, will be lengthened and shortened. The im vention avoids the liability experienced in the ordinary arrangement of the spring to get out of place in the concussions to which watches are often subjected when carried on the person. The space between the pins must be sometimes open, so that the spring can be inserted and lifted out when required; but in- I stead of leaving the space between the pins permanently open or introducing any complication I make both pins elastic and spring them apart by causing each to yield a portion of the total amount required, so as to open a sufficient space at the upper ends when I wish to insert or take out a spring, and equip the end of one of the pins with a barb or hook, which completely closes the space between the pins at the ends when in use. As these parts are ordinarily constructed it is not unusual not only for the proper coil of a hairspring to get out of the space between the pins, but even for the same or another coil to get in again, forbidding any reliance on the timeindicated. My invention insures against such difficulty. Many endeavors have before been made to attain this end. Some have revolved one pin carrying a hook, so that the hook is eifective or not according as the hook is turned, allowing both pins to be rigid. One has a pin provided with a short hook extending partly across the space and the other alone slender and elastic. This requires the metal of the slender pin to be so much deflected that its elasticity is overtaxed.

I have discovered that by making the hookpin longer than the other and extending the hook completely across the space and partly across the end of the other pin I can attain the end perfectly. I make the base of the hook square, by which I mean at right angles to the pin, so that the impact of the spring in a movement to get out induces no tendency to spread apart the pins, and by making both pins elastic the proper yielding is divided between the two pins. This last distributes the deflection and avoids over-straining the metal. The spring is retained reliably without complication of the mechanism, and the proper small amount of deflection of each pin is easily and safely induced when the spring is to be inserted or removed.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification and represent what I consider the best means of carrying out the invention.

The figures show the parts in the inverted position adapted for inspection and repairs.

Figure l is a plan view, and Fig. 2 a verti cal section on the line 2 2 in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a section corresponding to Fig. 2, but showing the pins temporarily sprung apart and the hair-spring in the act of being inserted or removed. Fig. at shows a part of Fig. 011 a larger scale, with the parts in condition for use. Fig. 5 shows a nearly similar pair of pins on the same scale sprung apart. Fig. 5 is a top view corresponding to Fig. 5. These pins differ also fundamentally from those in Fig. 4 in the fact that the taper of the round part of each pin is in the opposite direction, showing that with care in the proportions my pins may be inserted from either above or below. The pins in Fig. l are inserted from above, and those in Fig. 5 are inserted from below. Figs. 6 and 7 show the invention applied to a Breguet spring. Fig. 6 is a plan, and Fig. 7 avertical section.

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures where they appear.

Referring to Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, A is the ordinary stout boss on the bridge, and B the ordinary regulator-arm, capable of turning thereon, and which may be adjusted by a screw or other delicate provision, as usual.

A is the hair-spring stud, and D the hairspring, which, as usual, is partially wound and unwound by the vibrations of the ordinary fly-wheel. (Not shown.)

G and H are pins, both slender and elastic, set in the regulator-arm at the ordinarysmall distance apart. The free end of the pin II is formed with a hook or head H, which when the watch is in use extends quite across the space between the pins and overlaps upon the end of the other pin G. Most advantageously the headed pin is formed, as clearly shown in the drawings, by reducing the thickness of a cylindrical pin between its ends for a distance somewhat greater than the width of the tape composing the hair-spring, so as to leave a head and cylindrical base at opposite ends. his base is most conveniently set in the regulator-arm, and the reduction in thickness forms a recess for the outer or regulating coil of the hair-spring and at the same time increases the flexihilityot the pin; but however the headed pin may be made the amountby which the head projects toward the other regulating-pin is not only large enough to close the end of the space which is between the pins, but is also small enough to be within the limits of elasticity of the pins. It is also an advantage when the regulating-coil is in the plane of the hairspring, so that the inner pin is between the two outermost coils of the hair-spring,to place the headed pin outside of the hair-spring and to bevel the upper end of the inner pin G on its inner side, (or side farthest from the pin II,) as shown, so that the said pin can be bent inward by the wedge M, for example, sufficiently to open the space between the pins without causing the pin G to press against the adjacent coil of the hair-spring. 'With this arrangement in returning the hair-spring (after its removal for any reason) there is no danger of getting two coils of the hair-spring between the pins, notwithstanding the spreading apart of the pins. The shifting of the regulator-arm changes the position of these pins relatively to the hair-spring D in the ordinary way, and the pins perform in every respect their ordinary functions, with the addition that the head II by extending across the ordinary open space at the free ends of the pins guards against the possibility of the hair-spring ever getting out. A watch may he jarred with any ordinary or extraordinary degree of violence in any position and the spring will always be retained.

When it is required to insert or remove a spring, the operator may insert a' wedge, as an ordinary pointed pin M, between the pins G and II, forcing them apart. Under this strain both pins yield to the small extent required until sufliciently spread to allow the hair-spring to be moved in and out of the space between the pins, notwithstanding the head H. On the removal of the pin M the elasticity of the pins G and II restores them to their original positions and they serve as before.

In Figs.5 and 6 the hair-spring is marked D By the formation generally known as Breguet, aportion near the outer end (marked D) is deflected out of the plane of the main portion of the spring and led inward nearly to the collar or center. The invention applies to this form in the same general manner as already described, the long pin II having the square-based head 11, being red need in thickness for a length greater than the width of a hair-spring and made at least equal in elastic yielding to the shorter plain pin G.

It is convenient to make the pins beforehand. I make the same pin II serve either for a common or a Breguet hair-spring by leaving the pin full for suflicient length to allow for the changes of position required. It will be noted in Figs. 8 and 4 that both the pins G and II have full round bodies adapted to allow the changesin position, a long extension downward below the regulatordever for a common spring and a shorter extension downward for a Breguet. By allowing both pins (II as well as G) to yield when they are wedged apart I get the required amount of yielding with but a short length of the slender portion and without risk of permanently setting or in any wise overstraining either pin.

I can taper the pin II from above downward and insert it from above. In such case the head II must be small to be moved through the hole in setting them. I prefer such arrangement, but can taper the opposite way, presenting the larger end of either or both pins downward and insert the pins from below. In such case the head II may be of any size desired.

Modifications may be made without departing from the principle or sacrificing the advantages of the invention. The form and the depth or thickness of the head II may vary. I have in my experiments used very thin heads in order to afford a proper length of pin without encroaching on the space required for the vibration of the fly-wheel. I esteem it important that the under surface of the head be square, by which I mean at right angles to the axis of the pin, so that any jumping motion of the spring will by striking that square under face exert no force to urge the pins apart. The invention may apply equally well to the ordinary flat spring or to the Breguet spring.

Parts of the invention may be used without the whole. I can omit the square under surface of the head and the overlapping of the head II beyond the end of the pin G.

I claim as my invention 1. In a hair-spring regulator andin combination with the hair-spring, and its regulator-arm, a pair of regulating-pins of which both are flexible and elastic and of which one is provided with a head projecting laterally far enough to close the end of the space between the pins in the normal position of the latter to constitute a positive barrier against the introduction and removal of the hairspring coil and not so far as to exceed the limits of elasticity of said pins when these are spread apart by provision independent of any separating tendency of the spring-coil, the flexibility of each of the pins allowing it to yield a part of the distance required for the removal of the said head out of the way of the hair-spring coil which is normally lodged in the space between said pins, substantially as described.

2. In a hair-spring regulator and in combination with the hair-spring, and its regulator-arm, a pair of regulating-pins composed of an elastic and flexible pin provided with a head at one end and a cylindrical base at the other and a reduced intermediate portion and a second pin whose upper end is normally under the overhang of said head, the base of said headed pin being set in the said regulator-arm, and a coil of said hair-spring being normally lodged in the space between said pins, substantially as described.

head While the other is placed between the two outermost coils of the hair-spring and has a bevel at the upper end on the side farthest from said headed pin, substantially as described.

In testimony that I claim the invention above set forth I aiiix my signature in presence of two witnesses OLOF JOHANSON.

lVitnesses:

J. B. CLAUTICE, H. F. BOYLE. 

